A judge in Juneau, Alaska, dismissed all charges against Rachelle Waterman in connection with her mother's murder at a hearing Tuesday, saying testimony at the honor student's trial earlier this year cast serious doubts about the reliability of incriminating statements the girl made during a police interrogation.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins, who presided over the trial, which ended in a hung jury on Feb. 14, said new information emerging at the proceeding suggested that the then-16-year-old Waterman may have been coerced by police into admitting more involvement in the murder plot than she actually had.

Collins ruled that the statements were inadmissible as evidence and said that because they were "the centerpiece" of the prosecution case, she had no choice but to dismiss the indictment.

At the morning hearing, Collins told stunned prosecutor Stephen West, the district attorney of Ketchikan, that he had until 4 p.m. to file new charges against Waterman or she would be released. Late in the day, West filed paperwork saying the prosecution was still weighing options, including appealing the judge's decision.

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Defense attorney Steven Wells said he decided against pushing for his client's immediate release because the prosecution could immediately return her to jail if they refilled charges in the coming days.

"While I can stand up and jump around and say, 'There are no charges, let her out,' I also have to look at the practical effect. I don't want her being yanked back and forth out of jail," he said.

At the hearing, the judge lowered bail from Waterman from $150,000 to $50,000, and the defense lawyer says he expects her family to post bail in the next few days.

Waterman, 17, broke down in tears as Collins announced her decision. She had faced 317 years in prison if convicted. Her father, Carl "Doc" Waterman, who has supported her since his wife's murder, was in court for the hearing.

Two of Waterman's former lovers, Brian Radel and Jason Arrant, both 25, confessed to killing Lauri Waterman, 48. Radel testified that he committed the killing out of loyalty to Arrant, his best friend, and Arrant said he arranged the murder at the behest of Waterman, who claimed she was being physically abused by her mother.

Judge Patricia Collins dismissed all charges against Rachelle Waterman.

Both men are to be sentenced on first-degree murder charges Thursday.

Shortly after the jury deadlocked 10-to-2 in favor of acquitting Waterman, her lawyer filed court papers asking the judge to acquit her. Collins stopped short of an acquittal, but she echoed the defense's arguments about the interrogation in her decision.

In evaluating the interview, Collins cited one line of questioning that she said demonstrated that, at least in one instance, Waterman was browbeaten into making false statements.

That instance concerned how Radel entered the Waterman house. During the two-hour interview in question, two investigators repeatedly told Waterman that they knew she told the killers how to get into the house. She ultimately agreed.

At the trial, however, Radel said he was never given the information. He climbed through a garage window. Waterman snuck into the house often, but she always used a window in the family room, the judge noted.

'Doc' Waterman reacts to the ruling Tuesday.

"This aspect of the 'confession,' i.e., that Waterman aided in the break-in by providing information about how to break into the house falls apart under close scrutiny," Collins wrote in a six-page decision she released during the hearing.

She added that the false statement about the window make "other statements of potential responsibility for her mother's death more suspect."

She also noted that investigators lied repeatedly about the evidence they had and did not seek specific permission from Waterman's father to interview her as a suspect. Although neither is illegal, the judge wrote, they can be considered when determining whether a confession is truly voluntary.

Sgt. Randy McPherron of the Alaska State Troopers, one of the two investigators who interrogated Waterman, listened by telephone to the announcement Tuesday from his office in Anchorage.

"I'm still trying to pull my jaw off the floor," he said when contacted a few minutes later.

The murder of Lauri Waterman stunned the tiny island village of Craig, where the victim was beloved for her community involvement.